1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rack which is adapted for supporting collapsible bags in an opened condition. More particularly, the invention relates to a rack which may be used for holding either conventional paper grocery bags or flexible plastic bags having integral handles thereon in an opened condition so that the supported bag may be loaded with trash or other articles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Trash containers, whether they are garbage cans or waste baskets generally have imperforate walls and bottoms which often are substantial in weight or are formed with a substantial amount of raw material. Conventional paper grocery bags or plastic bags are often placed within these trash containers so that the trash may be removed from the container by simply removing the bag from the container. The walls and bottom of these collapsible bags are substantially capable of safely containing trash or other articles, therefore rendering the imperforate walls and bottoms of trash containers unnecessary. Since these paper and plastic bags are collapsible, however, some sort of structure is necessary for supporting the bags in an open position so that trash or other articles may be placed in the bag without having to manually hold the bag open.
Support racks have been designed which are capable of holding conventional paper grocery bags in an open position for receiving trash or other articles. One of these is designed to support the two inwardly foldable sidewalls of the conventional paper bag, but not the front or back walls thereof. Another of this type of support rack completely surrounds the paper bag on all four sides.
There currently is a trend in retail food outlets to pack articles into plastic bags having integral handle loops. Support racks have been designed for suspending a plastic bag in opened condition within the rack. This type of rack generally has some means at the top of the rack for engaging the integral handles of the plastic bag in such a manner that the mouth of the bag is held open so that articles may be placed within the suspended plastic bag. Usually this support rack provides support to the formless plastic bag at its two sidewalls, back wall and bottom, but not at the front wall of the bag. The front portion of these racks are often left completely open so that a user may remove the plastic bag from the rack without having to clear the top portions of the rack. Generally these types of support racks are used in retail supermarkets for packaging merchandise such as groceries. Typically, the bag is suspended within the rack for only a short time while the bag is being filled with merchandise, and therefore front wall support is unnecessary.